


Harvest Moon

by SuperiorJello



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: AU, Buffy/Sailor Moon crossover, multifandom - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2017-01-11
Packaged: 2018-05-31 22:17:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6489493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperiorJello/pseuds/SuperiorJello
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Buffy jumps through the portal in the fight against Glory, and wakes up in the body of Usagi Tsukino, a clutsy highschooler with a normal life. (I know, she's supposed to be in middle school in the manga/anime but THAT'S SO CREEPY so I made her older, sue me)<br/>She then runs into a black cat with a crescent moon on it's forehead and just knows something is up.</p><p>(Buffy replaces Usagi's soul, and Spike ends up as Chiba, everyone else is their beautiful selves. Set after the events of S5 Buffy, but follows the events ~kinda~ of S1 Sailor Moon Crystal)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Buffy woke up slowly.

She had the worst headache she had ever experienced, and that included the times she had almost died. And the time she did die.  


Groaning, she rolled over to get out of bed, and stopped.  


Something didn’t feel right.  


Opening her eyes, she looked at the room around her. She was not happy with what she saw. The familiar walls of her bedroom at Revello drive were nowhere to be seen. Instead she was in a room full of pale pinks, creams, and so many bunnies it was scary. She almost began to understand Anya’s fear of the things. There were also little moons on the duvet she was curled up under, but those were less frightening.  


She sat on the edge of the bed, and realized there was a mirror on a vanity right in front of her. And shrieked. She was not herself. For one thing, she was a teenager. A young teenager. Not the mature college-girl she was used to being, but a totally uncool skinny kid. And her hair! How was she supposed to care for all of this! At least it was blonde, like she was used to, but the length! It was almost longer than she was!  


She looked…  


Okay, she looked totally adorable. Even she had to admit that much.  


“Usagi!? Was that you! You’re up? Now that’s a miracle right there. My horoscope did say today would be magical!” A woman with wavy purple hair wearing an apron had poked her head in the door. There was something kind in her eyes, it reminded Buffy of her mom. Her mom-  


The memories hit her all at once. The body. Dawnie. Glory.  


Her mother was dead, and… she had died too. Glory had caught Dawn, she had been on that tower, and the portal…  


The portal had been opened. And Buffy had jumped into it.  


“Honey, dear, are you all right? You look a little pale…” The purple-haired woman had come closer, and Buffy flinched at her closeness.  


“Fine, I’m fine!” She forced a smile onto this strange new face. “Just sat up too fast!”  


“Oh good. Now, since you’re up so early, why don’t you put on your uniform and come down for breakfast. School’s not for another hour! Plenty of time to eat and walk over there!” With that the woman swept out of the door, leaving Buffy perplexed. She supposed this woman was the mother of whomever had occupied this body before Buffy. But school? Did she have to go through high school again? She had barely survived it the first time!  


While she was deep in thought, on autopilot she got dressed into an unfamiliar uniform. It looked like one of those things Japanese girls were always wearing in those cartoons Xander had made her and Willow watch a few times. And how had she known how to tie the bow just so? She paused, and looked deep within herself.  


There was someone else here… kind of. Buffy was certainly the only personality here, but she could feel the memories of this body, this Usagi Tsukino within her. Huh.  


Apparently they were in Japan. And she had been speaking Japanese the entire time. Somehow.  


Usagi had lived a pretty normal life, if her memories were any indication. Kind of a clutz, bad at school- especially math. She liked video games and cute boys. She had a mom, dad, and a brother all living together. Buffy could dig it.  


And her name was a pun on the Japanese word for rabbit. Rabbit of the moon? That explained the decorations.  


Maybe this was her chance at a normal life? New start, maybe the poor girl’s soul had been lost to a curse or something, and Buffy had been given a place to try again? It made about as much sense as anything that ever happened to her.  


“Usagi! You ready? Food’s on the table!”  


“Coming mom!”  


Breakfast was delicious, although strange. Buffy had never eaten most of the foods laid out, but Usagi’s memories led her through the niceties of the meal. She also met her brother Shingo, though it seemed her father had headed out to work already. Shingo was a brat. He reminded her of Dawn.  


After breakfast, she picked up her bento and ran to school. She had ample time to reach her first class, but she wanted to put this new body through its paces, see what she could do. She already could feel that she no longer had access to her slayer powers, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t prepare. She knew from experience that anything that could go wrong probably would, and even though she didn’t even know if she was in the same dimension, she did at least know that there was the potential for terrible things to go bump in the night. And she never wanted to fall prey to something like that, if she could help it.  


She ran pretty well, for someone who wasn’t a trained athlete or warrior. Probably from all the times Usagi had been late for school- she got a lot of practice, and that had built up muscle. Nothing like Buffy had been able to do in the past, but she worked with what she got.  


A block from the school, she tripped over a cat.  


A black cat, almost purple. And it had a band-aid stuck to its forehead.  


Taking pity on the poor creature- she had tripped over it at a pretty fast pace, after all, it was a miracle she hadn’t seriously hurt the poor thing- she bent down and tried to take off the sticky bandage. The cat tried to scratch her- and got her too, right on the hand.  


“That’s not very nice! I just want to help!” She chided, pulling her hand back from the danger zone. Miraculously, the cat quieted at her words. Feeling a little apprehensive, Buffy reached in again. The cat didn’t move.  


Buffy pulled off the band-aid, revealing a crescent-shaped yellow patch on the cat’s forehead. It matched the moon pattern she had woken up to this morning.  


“God d- you know what! No! I am so done with this shit! I don’t need this in my life! Buffy out!” And with that she stormed off, not wanting anything to do with cats that were clearly marked as destiny or some shit.  


She didn’t want to be the chosen one.  


Again.  


She arrived in class just as the school bell rang.


	2. No Longer in Kansas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buffy learns a little about this world... and what she's doing here. I mean, not much. But a little.

As it turned out, her first class was English. Usagi had been utterly horrendous at it before Buffy’s arrival, but now, it was a piece of cake. Well, once she figured out how to turn off her English-to-Japanese filter that she had apparently picked up post-portal. At the end of class, Usagi’s longtime friends Umino and Naru were both clamoring to know how she had learned so much of the language so quickly. Really, if she were Usagi, she would feel a little hurt that her friends thought so little of her abilities. Then again, remembering what she had been like pre-Slayer powers, she really hadn’t been much different from these kids.  
  
At lunch Umino told a group of them about a series of break-ins at local jewelry shops, and the equally mysterious Sailor V that was working to stop them.  
  
“They say she’s taller than a model, and faster than anyone on earth! She can jump up buildings in one leap, and is strong enough to do anything!” Umino rambled on, pretty much drooling over this Sailor V character.  
  
The description sounded awfully familiar. Except for the tall part- she had never been tall. Even now she wasn’t. She sighed. Life just wasn’t fair.  
  
Looking around, she noticed that Naru had grown quiet, and Buffy fished in Usagi’s memories until she ‘remembered’ that Naru’s mom ran a nice jewelry store not far from here. Naru must be worried that her mom’s store would be next.  
  
“You’ll be fine.” Buffy said, nudging Naru’s shoulder with her own. “There’s probably hundreds of stores around to choose from. Even if you do get robbed, there’s insurance and stuff!” Naru chuckled, and Buffy smiled, job done.  
  
“You’re right Usagi. I don’t know why I worry.” She shook her head, as if shaking off the thoughts with the motion. She and Buffy tuned back into the discussion Umino was having with a couple other girls from class.  
  
“I understand why though! Think of the diamonds! So shiny!” One girl was saying, almost swooning at the image she seemed to have conjured.  
  
“I want a dress made of diamonds for my wedding!” Another girl said, and Buffy snorted.  
  
“What?” Asked Naru. “You don’t think it would be so romantic!” And Buffy laughed outright at that.  
  
“Romantic? Try uncomfortable! And heavy! I mean, so impractical! You could hardly figh… You could hardly move around in that! Not to mention how expensive that would be.”  
  
“Who cares? It would be so pretty!” One of the other girls retorted.  
  
“If fashion told you to, you’d go around with cats strapped to your feet!” Buffy shot right back, Giles' words from ages ago easily coming to mind.  
  
“So would you!”  
  
“As if! I am way past that!”  
  
“Hey, did you hear that my mom’s having a sale today?” Naru broke up the escalating argument quickly and efficiently. “Some of the rings and stuff even we could afford!”  
  
“Really? Oh wow!”  
  
“Yeah, I’d be happy to take everyone after school!”  
  
“Okay!”  
  
And with that the bell rang, and the lot of them headed back to class.  
  
~  
  
After school, Buffy happily declined Naru’s offer to take her to her mom’s jewelry store. She didn’t feel like heading back to the home that wasn’t hers quite yet though, so she did the most un-Usagi-like thing possible, and went to the library. Specifically, the history section.  
  
As far as she could tell, she wasn’t in Kansas anymore, Toto. All the history books were pretty wonky from what she remembered- of course, she had never really been good at history, but still.  
  
And the computers didn’t even have Google.  
  
So, for now, she figured she was going to have to get used to this life, this body. And what was Usagi’s favourite thing? Video games. She was going to go to the arcade. Plus, she wasn’t even the Slayer anymore. What could possibly go wrong?  
  
Oh crap. She'd jinxed it.  
  
Crap.  
  
~  
  
Motoki was a very cute teenaged boy who worked at the arcade. Usagi had been crushing on him for a few years now- Buffy could see why. He flitted gracefully amongst the rows of arcade machines, talking to everyone and smiling all the while. A simple girl like Usagi (Buffy meant no offence to the girl, she only meant that Usagi wasn’t a huge complicated mess like Buffy) would have found his mannerisms charming. Buffy was reminded of a dog- a golden retriever or something. Too cheerful for its own good.  
  
“Usagi! Back again I see! Here to try out the new Sailor V game?” Motoki had finally noticed her standing near the door.  
  
“Wait, she has a game?” Buffy asked, and he pointed to a set of three machines near the front of the building. They were cream coloured, with pink writing all over the place, and a cartoon-y drawing of a girl with long blonde hair in a very short-skirted sailor’s outfit.  
  
“Oh, of course! The developers couldn’t wait to get it out, what with all the work she’s been doing lately! So much good press!” He smiled, leading her over to the machine.  
  
“I thought any press was good press.” Buffy replied mulishly, while thinking that, as a cute teenaged girl hero herself, she would have liked to have had her own video game! She sat in front of the game and pouted.  
  
“Well, I’d certainly rather hear nice things about me, wouldn’t you?” He raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Fair. Okay, how does this work?”  
  
~  
  
She meant to only play one game and then head home, but it was just so fun, so she put in another token. And then another. Before long it was getting dark out, and she realized Usagi’s mom would probably be worrying soon.  
  
“I’ve got to head out, see you later Motoki!”  
  
“Bye Usagi! You good headed out this late?”  
  
“Don’t worry about me! I can take care of myself!”  
  
“You sure? I could walk you, if you wait a little while longer. It’s near close.”  
  
“Goodbye, Motoki.”  
  
The chimes rang behind her as she closed the door of the arcade, and she stepped out to a beautiful sunset. Not wanting to scare her ‘mother’, she broke into a jog so she would at least get home a little sooner.  
  
And immediately crashed into someone as they turned the corner.  
  
“Sorry!”  
  
She had run into someone that looked roughly her age, well, Usagi’s, maybe a little older. He was tall, with black hair and a lot of attitude. And style. Lots and lots of style. The way he wore his jacket, it just fit his shoulders in the best way imaginable.  
  
“Bloody hell, would you watch where you’re going? Could actually hurt someone someday. Might have done already, dumpling-head!” His voice was a beautiful tenor. It reminded her of something… she shook her head to clear it. She had arguing to do.  
  
“Well, if you’re going to be rude about it, then no. I take it back. Not sorry at all.” She smirked at the momentary flash of shock on his face. Apparently he wasn’t expecting someone like her.  
  
“Rude.”  
  
“Idiot.”  
  
“Bitch.”  
  
Buffy pulled a move that Usagi’s memories seemed to deem appropriate for this sort of situation, pulling down on her lower eyelid and sticking out her tongue. Before he could retort, she turned and jogged off home.  
  
She had needed that.  
  
She missed Spike- he was so much fun to argue with. But for now, she guessed this idiot would have to do.  
  
She hoped she got to run into him again.  
  
~  
  
Usagi’s mom was not happy with her late return home. She did however believe Buffy when she said that the bruises on her legs and hands were from falling. Apparently, it happened regularly enough that it was no surprise. As punishment for her lateness, she got sent up to bed with only a couple rice crackers and some water.  
  
She missed being an adult.  
  
As she drifted off to sleep with a rumbling stomach, she began to dream. She was taller, much taller, and wearing a beautiful white dress. As she ran past a mirror, she saw a reflection of herself, and she was beautiful. Her hair was done up like Usagi’s- two long flowing ponytails with buns tied up at the top. But her hair was pale, almost white. She was running, why was she running? Up ahead, there was someone, a man? He was tall, and in dark clothing, or was it armor? She couldn’t tell. If only she could reach-  
  
Her cheek was on fire.  
  
She woke up, and looked immediately into two large red eyes. There was a scratch on her cheek, she could feel it. She almost grabbed whatever it was to throw it out her window- she had left it open, probably how it got in- before she realized it was the cat from this morning. The crescent moon patch was visible even in the dark of her room.  
  
She tiredly got up and turned on the light, sitting again on the edge of her bed, before speaking to the cat.  
  
“Alright, what do you want? Is it the end of the world again? I’ve had enough of those for a lifetime. Well, a lifetime and then some, really. So I’d really appreciate it if you’d say your thing, and then go or whatever it is you portents do. Can you say your thing? You are a cat…”  
  
“My name is Luna. I’ve been looking for you for a long time.” The cat’s voice was matronly, and her r’s were rolled in a way that Buffy thought sounded very much like a cat. Well, made sense.  
  
“Guess that answers that question. Great, you’ve been looking. Well, you found me. What do you want? And Luna? Really? Just gonna take the whole moon thing and run with it, huh?”  
  
“You’re very rude. I don’t remember anyone, well, maybe Mars…” Luna trailed off.  
  
“Yeah, not the first time I’ve been told that today.” Buffy refused to be sorry for her behavior. She was the one being approached on her vacation, after all. A well-earned vacation. The cat sighed.  
  
“I am a resident of the moon kingdom. I was sent here by our dying queen to find you, and five others. There is a great evil approaching.” Of course there was.  
  
“Well, sorry to disappoint, but I’m trapped in the body of a 15 year old. I can’t really help you. Plus, no powers. Like, at all.” At this statement, Luna looked startled.  
  
“Wait, you know? I was told you wouldn’t know anything about your past life as a Lunarian.”  
  
“Wait, are you looking for me, or Usagi?” She had a feeling that the lunar-moon theme was more Usagi’s vibe than hers. Plus, Lunari-what?  
  
“You’re not Usagi?”  
  
“No… Yes? Maybe. I’m Buffy. I was the Slayer. Killed vampires, fought evil. Now I’m here. With all of Usagi’s memories. But also all of mine. So if you’ve got any explanation, I’d love to hear it.” Buffy crossed her arms grumpily, staring over at the vanity where she could see her and Luna’s reflections.  
  
“I simply followed the magical signature that I managed to pick up in this area. Although, I was following a different one earlier. That bandage you pulled off this morning? It interfered with my tracking ability, and when you pulled it off, your magical signature completely overwhelmed the trail I was following previously.”  
  
“Was it one of the other people you‘re looking for?”  
  
“Probably. But now I’m confused as to your identity.” Buffy rolled her eyes. Of course that cat was confused, Buffy herself was confused, and she was living it!  
  
“Got any way to check?” Buffy asked, not sure if she was hoping for a yes or a no. On one hand, she would have the answer, on the other, things might get super confusing. Or on the other-other hand, maybe she’d get the cat of fate out of her very-long hair. That could be for the awesome-making.  
  
“…Perhaps…” Luna replied, shifting uncomfortably from paw to paw.  
  
“Well…?”  
  
“I’m not sure if I trust you.”  
  
“Luna, I’m 15, and you have claws. I’m pretty sure you can take me.” She was not going to bring up her copious battle training here. She may no longer have the same muscles or powers, but she still knew the moves. She would just have to do them more slowly. And with smaller opponents. Like a cat.  
  
“That’s not reassuring.” Luna deadpanned. Buffy sighed, and held up her hand in a three fingered gesture.  
  
“Scout’s honor.”  
  
For some reason, this seemed to mollify Luna, and she quickly jumped up and did a flip. A circular golden brooch appeared, four small stones set one on each side.  
  
“How the hell did you do that?” Buffy asked, astonished.  
  
“I have an extra-dimensional pocket.” Said Luna, as blasé as if she were commenting on the weather.  
  
“Oh, okay.” Buffy had seen some pretty weird things. She could take it in stride. Cats with dimensional pockets. Okay.  
  
“Pick it up.”  
  
Buffy did. If felt warm to the touch. And she could feel something coming from it, a sort of magical aura. It was a welcoming sort of magic- nothing like the dark powers Willow had been working with more and more lately. Not even like the first Slayer, wild and dark in her own right. It felt like everything that a warrior for the light should embody.  
  
Luna walked over and sat next to Buffy- she could feel the bed indent under the weight of the small cat.  
  
“Now hold it up and shout ‘Moon! Prism! Power! Make-up!’” Luna’s voice sounded serious, but Buffy burst out laughing anyways.  
  
“Seriously? I have to say that! Why? It sounds ridiculous!” She giggled a little. Luna looked grumpy.  
  
“It was the best translation of the Lunarian words for it.” The cat grumbled. “Just do it.”  
  
“Fine. Moon! Prism! Power! Make-up!”  
  
Nothing happened for half a second. Buffy almost handed the brooch back, happy to not have to deal with this new catastrophe that had come knocking. Ha! Catastrophe.  
  
But then there was a flash of bright white light, and everything changed. She felt power flood her entire system, like when she had her slayer powers, but different somehow. Brighter. It burned, but not in any way unpleasantly. She also felt all of her clothes change, from her yummy sushi pajamas to… oh god.  
  
It was a skimpy sailor outfit like Sailor V.  
  
As soon as the transformation was done, she rushed over to the mirror, noting absently that she was already much faster.  
  
When she looked at herself, she had to admit that it made for quite the sight. A white one-piece with scraps of blue cloth as a skirt and collar, red bows on the front and back, long white gloves. There were even accessories, the gold pendant on a choker necklace, earrings, a tiara, hairpins, and big red discs in her buns. Red knee-high boots with the same crescent moon as Luna’s forehead marking completed the outfit.  
  
“Sailor Moon, champion of Love and Justice.” Luna remarked.  
  
“Huh?”  
  
“That’s who you are. I just remembered.”  
  
“You just remembered?” Buffy asked incredulously. Luna sighed.  
  
“My memories are locked to me, only revealed at opportune or dramatic times.”  
  
“That sounds annoying.” Like seriously. That would make a great curse.  
  
“Yes, the Queen had a flair for the dramatic, and it shows in her work.” Luna’s own Queen did this to her? Ouch.  
  
“Some Queen, huh?” Buffy asked, looking at herself in the mirror again. Then she looked at her head, startled. A pulsing red light was coming from the discs in her buns. “Luna, what’s going on?”  
  
“Help! Please help! Anyone! Mom! Mom!” It was Naru’s voice, Buffy recognized it from just their short time together, even without all of Usagi’s memories.  
  
“My hair is a distress beacon? Seriously!? Why!?” That was so not cool. Much with the uncool factor. Geez.  
  
“Come on Sailor Moon! She needs your help!” Luna, who was already standing on the windowsill, leaped out of it. Cat to the rescue.  
  
And as much as she wanted a break from the saving-business, Buffy couldn’t just let someone else get hurt.  
  
So she went too.


	3. Champion of Kicking Ass

When Buffy arrived at Naru’s mother’s shop, she was met with a sight not unfamiliar to her. The main door hung off its hinges, swinging loosely in the Tokyo breeze, its glass panes scattered across the ground. Often she had encountered the same situation in Sunnydale, most regularly at the Magic Box.  
  
Carefully she pushed past the empty frame of the glass door, shards of safety glass crunching beneath her boots.  
  
“Mom, what’s happening? Why are you- ah!” Naru’s questioning was cut off by the sound of skin hitting skin. She was nearby, and someone else was too. Buffy ran into the room. It was a lovely gallery showcasing jewelry of every description, a balcony level providing a sense of class to the place and skylights bathing various countertops and display cases in moonlight. Naru and a tall figure were at the far end from Buffy.  
  
“I’m not your mother, little girl. But don’t worry, you’ll be joining her very soon. You’ve just pushed my plans ahead in the timeline.” Buffy watched as the woman who supposedly looked like Naru’s mom transformed into a pink-haired, grey-skinned demon. One with very long nails.  
  
“Wow, I mean, I was going to complain about you ruining my beauty sleep, but you clearly need it more than I do.” Buffy quipped, walking into the moonlight that illuminated the room near the monster. Somewhere in the shadows of the balcony she saw a flicker of movement, but when she looked she didn’t see anything. When she looked back towards the demon, she had its attention entirely.  
  
“Intruder! Who are you to interrupt my work?” Its voice was gravelly, like a chain-smoker who gargled acid on the regular. Luna slipped in behind Buffy, using her as a distraction to find a perch that would be out of danger.  
  
“Me? I’m Sailor Moon. Champion of Love and Justice, apparently. And you are?” Buffy had managed to stroll casually towards Naru by this point, slowly placing herself between the child and the demon.  
  
“You shall pay for your insolence!” The demon shrieked, raising a glowing red talisman in one hand.  
  
“That’s a weird name.” She quipped in response, eyes narrowing. That talisman was going to be trouble. She looked between herself and Naru, calculating the time she would need to run to her.  
  
“Minions! Rise and attack this ‘Sailor Moon!’” A burst of light came from the talisman, flooding out of the room.  
  
“Oh boy. That’s never good.” Buffy started towards Naru, intent on keeping her safe, but was brought up short by a hand on her arm.  
  
“Not so fast, little girl.” The demon cackled, easily throwing her back towards the doorway. She landed heavily, and the roll she used to displace the force just meant that the broken glass on the floor had more places to cut. As she regained her feet, a horde of women wearing jewelry that clashed with their outfits appeared in the doorway, all with glowing red eyes. At least she knew what the talisman had done.  
  
“You’ve been selling cursed amulets.” Luna stated from the corner, apparently more for confirmation than anything else.  
  
“Also rings, bracelets, and earrings.” The demon replied smugly.  
  
“Way to branch out. Glad to see you’re not held down by conformity. That whole cured 'amulet' thing was getting real boring.” Buffy rolled her eyes, then punched the nearest glam-girl in the face. She went down, but two more took her place. “Sorry guys, but this is going to hurt.” Buffy laid into them with all the talent of her former slayer-self. Luckily for the cursed women, she had somewhat less strength behind each swing. But only somewhat- these powers Usagi came with were still way above the average human capability. She felt the drag on her muscles wherever she had been cut by the broken glass, but Buffy pushed through. It's what she always did, anyways.  
  
In a gap between two falling bodies, she saw the demon walking purposefully towards Naru once more.  
  
“You leave her alone!” Buffy tried jumping past the zombified customers, but was dragged back by one of her overlong pigtails. “No!” She screamed, hitting the floor with a crash. She watched in horror as the demon reached towards her quailing friend, but the demon was suddenly howling in pain.  
  
A red rose was stuck through it’s hand, the stem impaled like a straw through a drink lid.  
  
“Come on, Sailor Moon!” A voice called from the balcony, and a figure stepped forward from the shadows. It was a man dressed in a black tuxedo, with a mask, top hat and cape. How tacky. “Kick her ass!”  
  
“You want me to kick her ass? Why don’t you come down here and help!” She readied herself to continue her fight with the minion shoppers, but apparently with the demon more worried about it’s hand, it had lost control of the women. They all appeared to be asleep on the floor.  
  
“Quick, Sailor Moon! Throw your tiara at the demon shouting ‘Moon, tiara, boomerang!’” Luna called from her perch in the corner.  
  
“Seriously? That’s the magic attack spell?” Buffy heard a chuckle from where Mr. Tackypants was standing on the balcony. At least he agreed with her! She sighed, resigning herself to the spell. She raised her hand to her forehead to remove the metal band, but it jumped into her hand in a disk form before she tried anything. “Well, at least it’s obedient.” She muttered, before raising her hand to shout the dumbest incantation ever. Of all time. As she readied the words, the disk of tiara began to glow and spin, hovering above her hand.  
  
“Moon… Tiara… Boomerang!” She let loose with the spell, and the disk of light sped towards the demon with deadly accuracy.  
  
It hit in a flash of light causing a silent explosion, and all that was left behind was a pile of dust. Not unlike a dusted vamp.  
  
“You did it!” Luna cried, racing over now that the danger had ended.  
  
But Buffy wasn’t paying attention, she was running over to the place on the balcony where the man had been standing. Had-been meaning past-tense because he wasn’t there anymore. Which was with the not-good, in Buffy’s books.  
  
When she reached where he had been, she found an open window. Looking out, she saw his cape billowing from a building over.  
  
“Wait!” She called out, and he paused and turned to look at her.  
  
“Another time, pet.” He bowed, winked, and was gone.  
  
If that wasn’t Spike, she would eat her tiara- explodey light powers and all.


	4. Fate with a side of Of Course.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some clearing-up of information for Buffy, and the introduction of Ami.

Buffy stood watching after him for many long minutes. Her thoughts were racing- was Spike really here with her too? What did that mean, was this all an illusion? What was really going on here? No…. it all felt so real. It had to be… did that mean he was dead too? What was happening?  
  
“Usagi!” Her mind whirled on, forgetting everything.  
  
If Spike was here… who was protecting Dawn? Had he jumped in after her? No, the portal was supposed to close after it got it’s taste of Summers’ blood. Did this mean he had died right after, or during the battle when she was too busy… maybe…  
  
“Buffy!” Luna called from somewhere just behind her.  
  
But she was glad she wasn’t here alone. She would just need to find him again-  
  
“Ow!” She exclaimed, flinching away from the small cat that had just scratched her leg with very sharp claws. Then she remembered where they were-a crime scene, most notably.  
  
“We need to leave. Now.” Luna meowed from her position at Buffy’s feet.  
  
“Yeah, good plan.” Buffy agreed, glancing down at the women and girls down on the level below. They were all beginning to stir, and Naru was helping them to their feet. Then Naru’s actual mother came running in through a back door, and Buffy smiled. Everything was going to be fine.  
  
She and Luna slipped out through the balcony window, same as the person she believed to be Spike.  
  
~  
  
The next day at school Buffy was very tired, and Naru was very enthused. Apparently being in a life-threatening situation was trumped by the fact that a hero in a sailor-suit was there. The fact that she had survived and that it had been such a strange encounter probably made Naru less frightened by it, but still. Couldn’t the girl be at least a little traumatised? Buffy sighed, mentally repenting for being such a grouch in her own head. It was probably the exhaustion talking- she had forgotten how tiring physical activity could be if your body wasn’t used to the strain. Luckily enough the moon locket also ramped up healing like she was used to, so the cuts and bruises she had collected during the fight were all but non-existent in the morning when she woke up.  
  
“And then she was all like ‘I’m Sailor Moon, Champion of Love and Justice, and you are?’ and the crazy lady just shouted at her about suffering for her insolence or something and then Sailor Moon just says ‘That’s a weird name.’ Like seriously! She was so amazing!” It was lunch break, and Naru was telling the story of her rescue again, this time to a crowd of kids from the year above them. Buffy just rolled her eyes, glad that most of the witnesses to her vampire-fights were usually dust by the end of it. Imagine getting quoted like that all the time!  
  
She rose, deciding that being somewhere where her escapades of last night weren’t getting recounted word-for-word would be good for the sanity-keeping. Walking into the hallway, she accidentally bumped into someone.  
  
“Sorry!” She exclaimed. She really need to stop doing that- apparently some of Usagi’s clumsiness had stuck around. Looking at the girl she had bumped into, she delved into Usagi’s memories for the girl’s identity. Her wavy pixie-cut blue hair clued her in to this being Ami Mizuno, a genius girl from another of the classes in Usagi’s year.  
  
“Sorry!” Ami replied. “I was reading by book, I didn’t-“  
  
“No, it’s my fault, I wasn’t looking. Bad habit.” Buffy cut her off. She glanced at the other girl’s book- a math textbook. “Math, huh?” A subject both Buffy herself and Usagi had equally despised.  
  
“Yes! I’ve just started on the trigonometry unit, and I wanted to do a little extra reading… which is a little obsessive and weird I know, but…” Ami trailed off, blushing a little.  
  
“No, it’s cool. I used to have a friend a lot like you. I may hate the subject with a fiery passion, but you do you.”  
  
“Thank you…?” Ami trailed off, unsure of who Buffy was. Which, to be fair, Buffy could relate to.  
  
“Oh! Sorry. I’m Bu- Usagi. Usagi Tsukino.”  
  
“And I’m Ami Mizuno.”  
  
“I know. Cleverest girl in school, you’re kind of hard to miss. Must be awful lonely.”  
  
“It is, but how did you…?” Ami looked startled, as though no one else had ever seemed to notice.  
  
“I may be horrible at school, but I know people. When everyone looks up to you you’re… you’ve been separated- placed on a pillar, and it sucks.” Buffy allowed herself an inner sigh. She remembered her years of high school, the times she tried for homecoming and prom queen just so she would feel like a part of the class. Like she had really been there.  
  
“Thank you, Usagi Tsukino. You’re quite observant. I’m glad that someone else understands.” The blue-haired girl smiled warmly, and Buffy smiled back.  
  
“You can just call me Buffy.”  
  
The other girl’s brow wrinkled a little, but she nodded her acceptance of the address. Buffy figured the confusion was fair- Buffy was a fair stretch from Usagi, which would make the ‘nickname’ seem a little odd.  
  
“And you can just call me Ami.”  
  
The two girls smiled at each other, and the push of other students around them alerted them that they must have missed the end of lunch hour. They waved their goodbyes, and moved on in their separate ways.

  
~  
  


That night, Luna clambered in through the window in Usagi’s room again. Buffy was rather inclined to ask where the cat got herself to during the day, but then she figured the cat had probably been running around the streets, same as the first time Buffy had literally run into her.  
  
“Hey Luna.” Buffy called from her position on the bed. She had her schoolbooks around her, doing the homework that Usagi had been so loath to work on in the past. But if she was going to be fighting demons and whatever else in the dimension, then she planned on being as caught up on schoolwork as possible.  
  
“Hello Usagi. Or should I say Buffy?” The dark, almost-purple cat replied, making herself comfy next to Buffy. “I did some research on you.”  
  
“Did you now? You actually found something worth bringing up?” Buffy asked incredulously.  
  
“Well, no. It’s more that I found nothing.” Luna hesitated before going on. “It isn’t that I don’t believe you, but I had been hoping for some sort of proof.”  
  
“I guess it just goes to further prove that I’m not in my own dimension anymore, Toto.” Buffy replied wryly. “Though seeing as I died, I guess it’s not that surprising.” That admission seemed to startle Luna.  
  
“You died?” She mewled, ears perking forwards in surprise.  
  
“Yeah, that’s how I got here. Jumped into a magic gate to replace my little sister as the blood sacrifice. Why? You think that’s important to-” She gestured at Usagi’s form and back at the cat. “All this?”  
  
“Well it seems important, I just-” Luna’s tail flicked back and forth in agitation. “I can’t remember why!”  
  
“You think it’s that thing your Queen did, where you can only remember important stuff at dramatic times?” Buffy mentally rolled her eyes once more at the concept. It worked great as a curse- not so great when it’s your allies.  
  
“She really did love the theatricality of her position. Speaking of which, we never talked about what you need to be doing.” Luna settled down again, tail wrapping around her paws.  
  
“Doing?”  
  
“About the enemy! They’re going to keep attacking until they destroy all the Sailor Scouts and the Princess of the Moon! We need to gather your allies before it’s too late!”  
  
Buffy laughed at that, then saw the blistering look that Luna levelled in her direction.  
  
“Wait, you’re serious?” Buffy asked, baffled. “Princess of the Moon? Girl Scouts of Japan?”  
  
“Of course I’m serious! You’re a Guardian of Justice! It’s up to you to find the other Scouts and to protect the princess!” Luna stared defiantly into Buffy’s eyes, daring her to refuse her calling. Buffy had never had any trouble being argumentative, however. Even when she knew she had to do what was asked of her.  
  
“Protect her from what? Why are these creepy dudes even attacking? None of this makes any sense.” Buffy crossed her arms and pouted, missing the world of demons from her own life. At least she knew how to fight them, how to (get Giles and Willow to) research them!  
  
“They’re demons from another world! They’re not even supposed to be here! They were sealed… I believe…” The cat sighed, lowering it’s head. “I don’t really remember.”  
  
“Of course you don’t.” Buffy sighed too, rubbing her temples. She hated plotting and figuring out all the terrible things that terrible people were going to do and constantly having to run and fight and win some but lose others. She didn’t want to deal with another dimension’s problems. But she also loved it. The rush of a straightforward battle, using her wits to keep one step ahead of an opponent, and the satisfaction of one more baddie gone for good. “Okay.”  
  
“Okay?” Luna asked, head tilted to one side.  
  
“Yeah. Okay. I’m on board. What do I need to do to find these… allies?” Buffy looked down at the cat steadily, and suddenly, Luna wasn’t so worried anymore. She thought maybe, for once, they could do this.  
  
"I've been tracking some energy similar to the signal that led me to you, Buffy. Not nearly as strong, but..." The cat shook her head, as if clearing away an errant thought. "Your signal was probably so strong because of your... unique... situation. Anyways, It's another girl at your school. She's called Ami. Ami Mizuno."  
  
Buffy sighed. Of course. 


End file.
